The Head of the Charles is 26 days away as I sit and write. Less than four weeks.
Somehow I found time to create a past history spreadsheet for my event. I used the last five years’ results to calculate the average winning time, the average top 5 finishers time, plus their corresponding benchmarks at Riverside, Weld, CBC.
I’ve filmed myself erging and rowing and sought technical advice. I’ve been reading the program resources on preparation, plus some extra Googling.
Yes, the rowing nerd has come out.
Training Update: Week 1 vs Week 2
Life caught up into the second week. This is why flexibility is so important. Usually I take Sundays off, but Thursday changed the plan. We think it’s important to foster a love of the outdoors in our son, but we live in suburbia. So once a week I try to do something outside with him. The hike lasted longer than I expected, followed by a two-year-old refusing to nap. Add to that an overall sense of fatigue, and Thursday ended up being my “off” day and I trained through the weekend.
Late summer flowers on our hike.
Now into week 2 of the Faster Masters 5k program, a few workouts have comparison data. I write all my indoor training sessions in a journal to monitor my progress.
There’s an anaerobic threshold workout I showed improvement in the last two of the three timed pieces. I wrote that I “felt better” although the last three minutes at a 28 got tough. That’s what you’d expect as your body adapts.
Another comparable workout was a long, steady state recovery-style piece. Unfortunately, this week’s session totaled 500 meters shorter than Week 1. I’m not concerned about it. This workout was done at home; I noted I stopped more than before. Next house must have a dog door.
Taking Thursday as a rest changed the remaining workout schedule, with lots of flip-flopping to fit the weekend plans. I did a different workout on the water. This technical focused workout is definitely what I needed. I love the challenge of square blade rowing. I need to work on keeping my chest lifted at the catch. When I thought about it, the boat set better and the screen proved it gives better numbers.
Consistently, I noted more fatigue this week. Less sleep combined more physical and mental struggles. Lucky, training is a long game. Seven days shorter than a week ago, but still a long game.
I’m starting the third week feeling drained, but optimistic. I think I will see more growth this week. Two weeks to push hard and make a final effort to build more endurance and strength before the taper begins.
Track my progress training for the Head of the Charles:
